However almost immediately the Ministry of Defence moved to amalgamate the two battalions. This was not a new idea: the origins of the combined entity, Royal Scots Borderers, dates from the 1990 Options for Change review, when it was initially announced that the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers would amalgamate. That amalgamation was subsequently rescinded.[2] The Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion duly amalgamated on 1 August 2006 – upon their amalgamation, the new battalion took the name Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.[3]

Since the amalgamation, the battalion has been deployed to Iraq on Operation Telic and to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick.[5] They were most recently deployed to Afghanistan in September 2012 as part of Operation Herrick XVII.[6] The regiment has also been sent to Sierra Leone to help fight the outbreak of Ebola.[7]